A bit of business first though. If you're interested in seeing my thoughts on "The Office" season finale, you can find them here at the LA Times. Also, if you want to see me in person tomorrow night (and Steve too!), come to the Hideout for the Schadenfreude rent party. It should be lots of fun.

Today I chat with the author of Electroboy: A Memoir of Mania, Andy Berhman's account of sex, drugs, art forgeries, manic depression and electroshock treatment. The film version of the movie goes into production next year, and in the meantime he is working on a self-help book and as a consultant for people with mental illness,

What have been some of the books or films that you feel best capture the reality of bipolar disorder or depression?
Can I alter that question a bit and lump the two into the category of mental illness? If so, I'd have to say that when it comes to films, "Girl, Interrupted" is at the top of my list. I loved that film. It really felt like the hospital in Manhattan where I spent so much time. Of course, "Frances" is a memorable one, too. I'm a huge fan of William Styron and think that nobody has done a better job depicting depression except maybe Sylvia Plath. When it comes to bipolar disorder, when I was extremely ill, I couldn't find a book that explained my own illness to me, which is what prompted me to sit down and write "Electroboy."

Do you think your illness would have been any different in terms of symptoms or the severity of them if you were living in poverty?
No, this illness doesn't discriminate when it comes to being rich or poor - - except when it comes to treatment. You're screwed in this country when it comes to being mentally ill and poor. Screwed.

What was your parents' reaction to the book? Had you prepared them at all for it?
No, I hadn't prepared them at all for "Electroboy." I actually had been quite dishonest with them an insinuated that it was more of a "study" of bipolar disorder as opposed to a memoir which backfired on me once they read the manuscript and called me in tears at 2:00 a.m. They couldn't believe that I would actually humiliate the family - - not myself - - but telling my raw and gritty tale. They couldn't believe that their nice Jewish son from the suburbs was openly willing to discuss being an alcoholic, cokehead, stripper, pimp, hustler, forger and lunatic.

People seem convinced that Britney Spears is bipolar: is it the kind of disorder that can be diagnosed from afar like that?
Britney who? Just kidding. Unfortunately, "bad behavior" exhibited by celebrities is often lumped into the category of bipolar disorder. However, Britney Spears has been open about her diagnosis.

What kind of additional research did you have to do between Electroboy and your self-help book?
I've met thousands of patients with bipolar disorder and heard their stories. You'd be shocked to see the similarities. I'm still interviewing more than 200 of them for this new book.

ECT seems to have a sort of sensationalist, macabre appeal: what do you think it is about it that especially fascinates people more than, say, medication or talk therapy?
ECT has not only been sensationalized in Hollywood - - it's been glamourized. I remember being so excited before my first of nineteen ECT treatments because it was so frightening and dramatic at the same time.

In your interview on Anderson Cooper's show, Dr. Drew mentioned that people with bipolar disorder might be reluctant to medicate because they enjoy the highs: did you feel that way?
Absolutely - - giving up the euphoric highs is one of the hardest parts of getting well - - and my condition stabilized when I found the right regimen of medication. I remember despising taking my meds because I felt "boring" and unable to be the life of the party - - the guy with the lampshade on his head and a bottle of Amstel Light in each hand.

Do you find that the most dramatic parts of your illness, your mindset at the time, are harder to discuss in detail as you get further away from them?
Yes, as I get further and further away from the worst part of the illness - - as I continue to stabilize - - those memories of insanity, delusion, highs and lows and what I call the "crazies" in "Electroboy" seem to be harder to hold onto.

You have young daughters: do you feel like from your observations of their friends, kids are getting overdiagnosed in terms of possible disorders?
Yes and no. Of course, bipolar disorder can be diagnosed when people are much younger - - before their teenage years. But psychiatrists are not always the best diagnosticians and lump kids with behavior problems, ADD and other psychiatric disorders into the category of being bipolar. The downside is that they're not prescribed the right meds.

You hear a lot from readers who come to you with their own stories of manic depression and bipolar disorder. What do you do when you hear from people who should be seeking help but aren't, or who sound like a danger to themselves or others?
If people contact me at my website, which has turned into a clearing house for people who are really in trouble, I'll refer them to an emergency room if they're suicidal. If they're nervous about speaking to family or friends, I'll suggest that they find a therapist or psychiatrist (and I have a huge network of mental health care professionals around the country to whom I refer). I try to explain to people that having a mental illness is no different than having diabetes. But the shame and stigma associated with it are huge.

"A Million Little Pieces" was published just a year or so after "Electroboy." It seems that some people look to your book the way some addicts did to Frey's book--when the whole Oprah thing happened, did you rush back to your book and check through it to make sure everything was on the up and up just in case you had readers coming to you claiming "I believed in you and this happened..."?
What people are you referring to? "Electroboy" went through the hands of scrupulous attorneys who vetted, researched and asked hundreds of questions of me. Clearly, nobody put Frey through this process and it's too bad. He just should have written the book as fiction. Those of us who write non-fiction just can't sit down and make stuff up. It doesn't work that way. It's not that easy.

You mentioned in another interview that your experience in book publicity helped you market Electroboy: what specifically did you do, and how do you plan to promote your upcoming projects?
I did everything I could possibly do because when "Electroboy" was published, the mental health memoir genre was not as popular as it is today. This included building my own website (my publisher laughed at this idea), plastered posters of the book covered around Manhattan and stuck "Electroboy" stickers in cabs and on buses (this was the "manic" part of the campaign). But I knew that I had to get myself on mainstream television and radio and start talking about the stigma of mental illness - - nobody else was doing it yet - - and that I had to talk about the fact that mental illness was not pretty - - it was actually quite "dirty" and embarrassing. And I had no shame in sharing my story with the media. I went back to every journalist to whom I had ever pitched an author and said, "here's a horrible story about a guy with bipolar disorder and the guy happens to be me." I walked around book fairs with a sandwich board of my book cover, put up a billboard off Sunset Strip and did everything except skywriting. As far as upcoming projects, I'll do the same kind of things again. Whatever you have to do to get the attention of people who don't even know what bipolar disorder means, you do.

You offer your services as a paid consultant to those who have to deal with mental illness: did you need to acquire any particular training or qualifications to take on that role?
No, as I'm quite clear that I'm not a mental health care professional (either a medical doctor or a therapist) and just a professional patient. I spend time helping people develop strategies for recovery - - everything from choosing the right doctor, speaking with their family and friends, dealing with insurance issues and legal issues and helping them learn to cope with the illness once they are in recovery.

What is sacred sound therapy?
Sacred sound therapy is a treatment developed by a very brilliant Sikh guru in Los Angeles which involves sound waves (music, voice over and vibration) and meditation. It's really helped to fine tune me and relax me.

What's going on with the Electroboy film?
We're hoping that the film will go into production in the late Fall. It's been an arduous process, but I'm feeling encouraged that it will reach millions of people who won't read the book and who really will get a great glimpse into bipolar disorder.

What's the hardest part about writing a comic book?
I wrote a comic book for DC Comics called "Electroboy" and the hardest part was getting into that "superhero" mentality. I'm not that kind of guy. I actually hate that crap.

How does it feel to be the 208th person interviewed for Zulkey.com?
It seems right. I'm going to Idaho tomorrow to speak about bipolar disorder and that's the area code. If I had been 207, I would have had to fly all the way to Portland, Maine. And I'm not going to Portland, Maine. Are you following me? It's a bipolar thing.